RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
"Personally, I’m motivated by transforming research results into viable products."
- Prof. Dr. Michael Heuken, Vice President Advanced Technologies
The Initial Training Network entitled "Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters for Self-Powered Automotive Sensors: from Advanced Lead-Free Materials to Smart Systems (ENHANCE)" will provide Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) with broad and intensive training within a multidisciplinary research and teaching environment. Key training topics will include development of energy harvesters compatible with MEMS technology and able to power wireless sensor. Applied to automobiles, such technology will allow for 50 kg of weight saving, connection simplification, space reduction, and reduced maintenance costs - all major steps towards creating green vehicles. Other important topics include technology innovation, education and intellectual asset management. ENHANCE links world-leading research groups at academic institutions to give a combined, integrated approach of synthesis/fabrication, characterization, modelling/theory linked to concepts for materials integration in devices and systems. Such a science-supported total engineering approach will lead towards efficient piezoelectric energy harvesters viable for the automotive industry.
ESRs will focus on this common research objective, applying a multidisciplinary bottom-up approach, which can be summarized by: "engineered molecule- advanced material- designed device - smart system". The main purpose of the ENHANCE project is to create a multidisciplinary joint research activity, implying chemistry, materials science, physics, mechanics, engineering and electronics to create harvesters with high-power density and their systems offering stabilized output voltage in 1-3 V range and adapted to specific needs of sensors with high autonomy and working in temperature ranges from room temperature (RT) to 600 °C in vehicles. We propose to develop hybrid scavenging of energies available in the cars (heat (Th) light (Lt) – vibration (vi)) and/or to use multiple conversions effects (piezoelectric (Pi) – pyroelectric (Py) – electromagnetic (EM) – photovoltaic (PV) by the same transducer - heterostructure based on piezoelectric/ferroelectric/multiferroic crystals, films or nanostructures and not by adding multiple individual transducers into one package – a common approach used in literature.
The approach of hybrid energy harvesting by single transducer, offering time efficient and simplified fabrication of hybrid system, is in line with the final goals of the project – creation of the systems of vibrational/thermal/light energy scavengers not only with sufficient efficiency of energy scavenging (300-500 μW/cm2/g2), but also with reasonable price and viable technologies of fabrication and integration for real industrial applications.
Modern society relies on a multitude of electrical and electronic devices, from communication to industrial production and e-mobility. About 80% of them require the conversion of primary electricity into another form of electricity. Therefore, highly efficient electrical energy conversion is critical. This mainly depends on the power switching transistors used, which should have a as low as possible resistance in the on state and a high reverse breakdown voltage at the same time. New semiconductor materials with a wide-band gap (WBG) such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) achieve a higher breakdown field strength than silicon and therefore devices can be made much more compact. Power electronic converters with higher efficiency than silicon based circuits have already been demonstrated on this basis.
The new semiconductor material gallium oxide (Ga2O3) with its breakthrough field strength more than twice as high as that of SiC and GaN has the potential to further increase the efficiency of power converters equipped with it. For about six years, there has therefore been worldwide interest in research into new power electronic semiconductor components based on Ga2O3. The goal of ForMikro-GoNext is to demonstrate fully functional vertical Ga2O3 transistors. To achieve this goal, crystal growth, epitaxy and process technology will be further developed and coordinated.
Project partners: Leibniz Institute for Crystal Growth (IKZ) / Ferdinand Braun Institute (FBH) / University of Bremen / ABB / AIXTRON SE.
The joint project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
The partners have already achieved promising results in the development of III-V multi-junction solar cells on silicon. However, further improvements in component performance and production costs need to be achieved before industrial use can take place. This includes a reduction of the dislocation density in the III-V solar cell layers from today 108 cm-2 to the range of 1-5*106 cm-2, the demonstration of solar cells with efficiencies > 30 % and the optimization of the economic efficiency of the MOVPE growth processes. This "MehrSi" project addresses the most important development steps along this path. In particular, the following objectives should be achieved:
The main objectives of the SiTaSol project are:
It should be noted that the project is focused on key drivers for realizing a cost competitive c-Si based tandem solar cell technology with outstanding efficiency potential well beyond the limits of single-junction devices.
Participants: AIXTRON SE, Germany / AIXTRON Ltd, United Kingdom / AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH, Germany / Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Germany / JOHANNEUM RESEARCH Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Austria / Leiden University, The Netherlands / Topsil Semiconductor Materials A/S, Denmark
More information; (Website SiTasol here)
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Greece / University of Patras, Greece / University of Oxford, UK
University of Surrey, UK / University of Ioannina, Greece / Ecole Polytechnique, France / University of Stuttgart, Germany / Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Germany / Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin, Germany / Centro Ricerche Fiat, Italy / Centre for Research and Technology – Hellas, Greece / Horiba Jobin Yvon, France / Advent Technologies, Greece / COATEMA, Germany / COMPUCON Greece / AIXTRON Germany / Konarka, Germany / Oxford Lasers Ltd., UK
The APOLLON project concerns the optimization and development of point-focus and mirror-based spectro-selective photovoltaic concentration systems (Concentrator Photovoltaic, CPV) (multi approach). The different technology paths will be followed with special focus on the identified critical issues related to each system component in order to increase CPV efficiency, ensure reliability, reduce costs and environmental impact. (Multi Junction, MJ) MJ solar cells are manufactured using new materials and deposition technologies. These should make it possible to meet and even exceed the MJ solar cell efficiency target set in the European Strategic Research Agenda for Concentrated Photovoltaics. The optimisation of the Fresnel and prism lens and the development of new imaging, highly concentrated, cell self-protecting, stable optics will enable high optical efficiency and wide acceptance angles. New concepts are applied to mirror-based spectral splitting systems, which make it possible to eliminate the need for cooling. Both the optimized and new technologies are thoroughly tested to ensure reliable CPV systems with a long lifetime. High integration achieved with microelectronic and automotive lighting technologies for high-throughput assembly techniques, together with intelligent solutions for accurate, reliable, cost-effective tracking and reduced mismatch losses are being addressed in the project. Prototype systems will be developed for a complete ecological and economic evaluation, which will eventually lead to an economically attractive concentrating photovoltaic system. In APOLLON, all parties involved, from universities, SMEs, large companies to end users, will present scientifically valuable, usable and durable products, the results of which will be disseminated and used throughout Europe.
Participants: CESI RICERCA, Italy / AIXTRON SE, Germany / Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Laboratory of Photonics and Nanostructures, France / Energies Nouvelles et Environnment, Belgium / CENTRO RICERCHE PLAST-OPTICA, Italy, State Enterprise Scientific Research Technological - Institute of Instrument Engineering, Ukraine / Joint Research Centre (European Commission), EU / Ente per le Nuove Tecnologie, l'Energia e l'Ambiente, Italy / PV Technology Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering - University of Cyprus, Cyprus / CPower, Italy / Solar*Tec AG, Germany / Energy research Centre of the Netherlands, Netherlands / ENEL Produzione S. p.A, Italy, FUNDACIÓN ROBOTIKER, Spain, New and Renewable Energy Centre, Great Britain / University of Ferrara, Italy
Funded by the European Commission
Further Information
CNR, Italy / ST Microelectronics, Italy / Epichem Limited, UK / CSIS, Spain / Vilnius University, Lithuania
Our modern society has gained enormously from novel miniaturized microelectronic products with enhanced functionality at ever decreasing cost. However, as size goes down, interconnects become major bottlenecks irrespective of the application domain.
CONNECT proposes innovations in novel interconnect architectures to enable future CMOS scaling by integration of metal-doped or metal-filled Carbon Nanotube (CNT) composite. To achieve the above, CONNECT aspires to develop fabrication techniques and processes to sustain reliable CNTs for on-chip interconnects. Also challenges of transferring the process into the semiconductor industry and CMOS compatibility will be addressed.
CONNECT will investigate ultra-fine CNT lines and metal-CNT composite material for addressing the most imminent high power consumption and electromigration issues of current state-of-the-art copper interconnects. Demonstrators will be developed to show significantly improved electrical resistivity (up to 10µOhmcm for individual doped CNT lines), ampacity (up to 108A/cm2 for CNT bundles), thermal and electromigration properties compared to state-of-the-art approaches with conventional copper interconnects. Additionally, CONNECT will develop novel CNT interconnect architectures to explore circuit- and architecture-level performance and energy efficiency.
The technologies developed in this project are key for both performance and manufacturability of scaled microelectronics. It will allow increased power density and scaling density of CMOS or CMOS extension and will also be applicable to alternative computing schemes such as neuromorphic computing. The CONNECT consortium has strong links along the value chain from fundamental research to end‐users and brings together some of the best research groups in that field in Europe. The realisation of CONNECT will foster the recovery of market shares of the European electronic sector and prepare the industry for future developments of the electronic landscape.
Freiberger Compound Materials GmbH (FCM), Germany / Ferdinand-Braun-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik (FBH), Germany / University of Ulm, Germany / Max-Planck-Institute of Microstructure Physics (MPI), Germany
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research
SOITEC, France / STMicroelectronics, France / AMD Saxony, Germany / SILTRONIC, Germany / DOLPHIN, France / CEA-LETI, France / FZ Juelich, Germany / MPE-Halle, Germany
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
AIXTRON Taiwan
NCSR-D, Greece / IMEC, Belgium / IBM, Switzerland / CEA-LETI, France / STMicroelectronics, France / NXP Semiconductors, Belgium / University of Glasgow, UK / Katholike Universitaet Leuven, Belgium
Adixene: Alcatel VacuumTechnology France SAS, France / AIS Automation Dresden GmbH, Germany / AIXTRON SE, Germany / ASM International NV, Netherlands / ASML Netherlands B.V., Netherlands / Bronkhorst, Netherlands / CEA-LETI, France / EV Group E. Thallner GmbH, Austria / Fraunhofer Institut für Angewandte Optik und Feinmechanik(Fraunhofer IOF), Germany / Fraunhofer Institut für integrierte Systeme und Bauelementetechnologie (Fraunhofer IISB), Germany / HAP GmbH, Germany / IBS Precision Engineering B.V., Netherlands / IMEC, Belgium / Intel Performance Learning Solutions, Ireland / Mattson Thermal Products GmbH, Germany / NanoPhotonics GmbH, Germany / PTB (Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt), Germany / Oxford Intruments Plasma Technology Ltd., Great Britain / PVA TePla AG, Germany / SemiQuarz GmbH, Germany / Recif Technologies SAS, France / SEMILAB Semiconductor Laboratory Co Ltd, Hungary / Siltronic AG, Germany / S.O.I.TEC Silicon on Insulator S.A., France / TNO, Netherlands / Vistec Electron Beam GmbH, Germany / Xycarb Ceramics BV, Netherlands
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
AIXTRON SE, Germany / Danish Technological Institute, Denmark / Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands / Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH & Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance, Germany / Ruhr University Bochum, Germany / Vienna University of Technology, Austria / University of Helsinki, Finland / University of Padova, Italy
The consortium in the "HEA2D" project is investigating the fundamentals for continuous processing chains of 2D nanomaterials with the aim of developing processes for series production.
Further Information
HEA2D in the media
AIXTRON SE, Germany / Freie Universität Berlin, Germany / Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin, Germany
Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology
Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik (FBH), Germany / Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovak Republic / Vienna University of Technology, Austria / University of Padua, Italy / AIXTRON SE, Germany / Artesyn Austria GmbH & Co. KG, Austria / EpiGaN, Belgium / Infineon Technologies Austria AG, Austria
FBH, Germany / FCM, Germany / OSRAM, Germany / Fraunhofer IAF, Germany
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Uni Montpellier, France / Epichem, UK / SAES Getters, Italy
RWTH Aachen, Germany / Head Acoustics, Germany / Uni Twente, The Netherlands / Uni Tel Aviv, Israel / EKD, Spain / NetKnowledge, Israel / Cerobear, Germany / Morskate, The Netherlands / Optibase, Israel
Philips Technologie GmbH, Germany / AIXTRON SE, Germany / BASF SE, Germany
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
ASM International, The Netherlands / Air Liquide, France / Bronkhorst, The Netherlands / Conti Temic Microelectronic GmbH, Germany / Infineon Technologies, Germany / NXP Semiconductors, Belgium, Netherlands / Oxford Instruments, UK / R3T GmbH, Germany / SAFC Hitech, UK / STMicroelectronics, France / CEA-LETI, France / IHP, Germany / IMEC, Belgium / Technical University of Eindhoven, The Netherlands / Tyndall National Instiute, Ireland / University of Helsinki, Finland
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
FZ Jülich, Germany / AIR Liquide, France / LMPG, France / Epichem, UK / Jobin Yvon, France / CEA-LETI, France / ST Microelectronics, France
ST Microelectronics, France / ST Microelectronics, Italy / IMEC, Belgium / LMPG, France / CEA-LETI, France / LTM, France / AIR Liquide, France / Jordan Valley, Israel / NCSR, Greece / MDM, Italy / Sigma Aldrich, United Kingdom
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
INOVA LISEC TECHNOLOGIEZENTRUM GMBH, Austria / PROFACTOR GMBH, Austria / ENERGY GLAS GMBH, Germany / DURST PHOTOTECHNIK SPA, Italy / TIGER Coatings, Italy / CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE, Italy / UNIVERSITÄT LINZ, Austria / UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, UK / UNIVERSITÄT KASSEL, Germany / KOREA UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AND BUSINESS FOUNDATION, Republic of Korea
CEA-LETI, France / IMEC, Belgium / Acreo, Sweden / Schott, Germany / Alcatel Thales, France / ASMI, The Netherlands / EPIC, European Organisation / VDI-TZ, Germany / CNOP-OV, France / Yole Development, France
EPFL, Switzerland / Jacobs University Bremen, Germany / University of Dublin, Ireland / Institute Jozef Stefan, Ljubljana, Slovenia / Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel / SCM, Netherlands / Evonik Industries AG, Germany
Alacatel Thales III-V Lab, France / Czech Technical University, Czech Republic / Element Six Ltd., UK / EPFL, Switzerland / Fcubic AB, Sweden / FORTH, Greek / Gwent Electronic Materials Ltd., UK / University Of Glasgow, UK / Impact Coatings AB, Sweden / IEE, Slovakia / CNRS, France / Instytut Technologii Elektronowej, Poland / IVF, Sweden / University of Grenoble, France / MFA, Hungary / MicroGaN GmbH, Germany / SIFAM Fibre Optics, UK / STU, Slovakia / University of Ulm, Germany / University of Vienna, Austria / University Of Bath, UK / Vivid Components Ltd., UK
Konarka, Austria / Photeon Technologies, UK / University of Rome, Italy / University of Linz, Austria / University of Bath, UK / ILC, Slovakia / Holotools, Germany
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany / Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany / University of Valencia, Spain / European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, France / University of Cambridge, UK / University College Cork, Ireland / Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands / Hochschule RheinMain, Germany / Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy / Centro Ricerche Fiat S.C.p.A., Italy / Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands
OSRAM, Germany / Fraunhofer IAF, Germany
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
TU Berlin, Germany / LayTec, Germany
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
University Duisburg-Essen, Germany / AIXTRON SE, Germany
Azzurro GmbH, Germany / MicroGaN GmbH, Germany / Infineon AG, Germany / SiCrystal AG, Germany
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Philips, Germany and The Netherlands / CNRS, France / CNR-ISOF, Italy / Merck OLED Materials, Germany / Fraunhofer IPM, Germany / H.C. Starck, Germany / IMEC, Belgium / KU Leuven, Belgium / Uni Lecce, Italy / Novaled, Germany / OSRAM-OS, Germany / Academy of Sciences, Poland / Schott, Germany / Siemens, Germany / Syntec, Germany / Uni Dresden, Germany / Uni Ghent, Belgium / Uni Groningen, The Netherlands / University of Kassel, Germany /EPFL, Switzerland / University of Strasbourg, France
OSRAM Opto Semiconductors GmbH, Germany / Philips GmbH, Germany / BASF Future Business GmbH, Germany / Applied Materials, Germany
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
TEI of Crete (coordinator), Imperial College London (UK), University of Oxford (UK), Politechnico di Milan (IT), University of St-Andrews (UK), Cyprus University of Technology (CY), Johannes Keppler University of Linz (AT), University of Groningen (HOL), Friedrich-Alexander Universitat Erlangen -Nurnberg (GER), Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser – IESL (GR), Technion Israel Institute of Technology (ISR), NanoForce Ltd (UK), Solvay S.A. (BEL), Ceradrop (FR), Beneq (FIN), AIXTRON (GER)
The main objective of the Life Long Learning (LLP) Erasmus Project ‘Organic Electronics & Applications’ – OREA is the development of a MSc curriculum in the field of Organic Electronics. The project benefits from the synergy between Universities, Research Institutions and Enterprises.
RWTH Aachen, Germany / FCT, Germany / Bruker Optik, Germany / AIS, Germany / Fraunhofer IWS, Germany
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Philips, Germany / RWTH Aachen University, Germany
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
HMI, Germany / Merck OLED Materials, Germany
Within the PeroBOOST joint project, effective lead-free solar cells based on PerOwSkiT for energy system transformation are being researched along the value chain, consisting of starting materials, deposition processes, solar cell production, encapsulation and scaling processes.
The focus of AIXTRON's subproject is on the investigation of evaporation processes and equipment for the deposition of PerOwSkiT materials. An essential part of the work in PeroBOOST is the research of innovative test rigs and their scaling.
European Network
Philips Technologie GmbH, Germany / AIXTRON SE, Germany / Fraunhofer Institut für Lasertechnik ILT, Germany / RWTH, Germany/ ESI GmbH, Germany / LIMO Lissotschenko Mikrooptik GmbH, Germany
Funded by NRW Ministry for Innovation, Science, Research and Technology
Philips Technologie GmbH, Germany / AIXTRON SE, Germany / Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT, Germany / University of Cologne, Germany
Funded by NRW Ministry for Innovation, Science, Research and Technology
University of Wurzburg, Germany / Becker & Hickl GmbH, Germany / Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Germany / University of Bremen, Germany / Forschungszentrum Julich GmbH, Germany / qutools GmbH, Germany
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
CNRS, France / TU Berlin, Germany / University of Madrid, Spain / University of Bologna, Italy / Alcatel Thales III-V Labs, France / University of Glasgow, UK / University Of Jena, Germany / EPFL, Switzerland / University of Warwick, UK / University of Ilmenau, Germany / IFPAN, Poland / TKK, Finland
IPHT, Germany / MPI, Germany / EMPA, Switzerland / MFA, Hungary / Austrian Research Center GmbH, Austria / VTT, Finland / PICOSUN, Finland / BiSOL, Slovenia / WTC, Germany / iSuppli, Germany / CalTech, USA
European Network
Infineon Technologies, Germany / Fraunhofer IISB, Germany
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Novaled AG, Dresden / Sensient Imaging Technologies GmbH, Westphalian Wilhelm University of Münster / Fraunhofer IPMS, Dresden / Symboled GmbH / Fresnel Optics GmbH / Hella KGaA Hueck & Co / Siteco Beleuchtungstechnik GmbH / AEG-MIS mbH / University of Paderborn
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
University of Würzburg, Germany / University of Marburg, Germany
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
University of Cambridge, UK / AIXTRON SE, Germany / Philips GmbH, Germany / IMEC, Belgium / Thales Research and Technology, France / Thales Electron Devices, France / Cambridge CMOS sensors, UK / Fritz Haber Institute, Germany / TU Berlin, Germany / Technical University of Denmark, Denmark / Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETHZ
Freiberger Compound Materials GmbH (FCM), Germany / Ferdinand-Braun-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik (FBH), Germany / University of Ulm, Germany / Nanoelectronic materials laboratory GmbH (NaMLab), Germany / Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics (IAF), Germany
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
AMD, Germany / Infineon, Germany / Wacker Siltronic, Germany / FZ Jülich, Germany / MPI, Germany / IMEC, Belgium
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
OSRAM Optosemiconductors, Germany / Royal Philips Electronics, The Netherlands / BASF Future Business GmbH, Germany / BASF, Germany
The term AVD® is a registered trademark.
Thales-TRT, France / CNRS, France / TU Wien, Austria / Academy of Science, Slovakia / EPFL, Switzerland / FORTH, Greece / University of Ulm, Germany
RWTH Aachen, Germany / mecca neue medien, Germany / JET Lasersysteme, Germany
University of Hong Kong, China / University of Tsinghua, China / RWTH Aachen, Germany
The aim of the project is to investigate future-oriented vertical transistor architectures. The aim is to develop and test high-performance transistors with low static and dynamic losses and high dielectric strength on low-defect GaN substrates. AIXTRON SE will fundamentally investigate and further develop the MOCVD technology for the deposition of the necessary layer structures. To optimize the technology, suitable layer structures are produced and investigated. This is followed by the exchange of layers with the other project partners to produce and improve components. The feedback of the findings from the project partners serves to improve the technology. Within the framework of the project, an analysis of the deposition process is to be carried out, which can be used for further optimization for the intended application for power transistors.
AIXTRON’s goals are:
· Improvement of MOCVD system technology for power transistors.
· Development of a technology for simultaneous MOCVD coating of multiple substrates for
GaN-based vertical power transistors.
· Understanding the limiting and cost-driving effects of MOCVD technology.
· Correlation of device and circuit properties with epitaxy.
· Understanding and controlling the layer properties and their distribution over the entire wafer
area of a large wafer in the MOCVD process.
· Cost aspects and aspects of industrial suitability of epitaxy based on technical/scientific data
and model ideas.
The PowerElec project, jointly supported by the European Commission and the participating countries within the European Association of National Metrology Institutes (EURAMET) focuses on development of novel metrological methods and instrumentation supporting a step-change in productivity of the power electronics industry.
Electrification of transport, smart power distribution, and 5G/6G communications are instrumental in underpinning the European Green Deal and boosting the EU’s global competitiveness. Power electronics is crucial to these technologies and European companies are leading the transition from silicon to wide bandgap compound semiconductors. These materials offer huge benefits in terms of performance, but the manufacturing yield and long-term reliability are affected by material defects, which are hard to identify and characterize at the fabrication facility with existing techniques. Goal of the PowerElec project is to develop metrology techniques overcoming these limitations, joining efforts of National Metrology Institutes and partners from industry and academia. In the project AIXTRON utilizes the competence of the partner to understand the possible defects in semiconductor layer grown by MOCVD and based on this knowledge the AIXTRON MOCVD technology can be improved.
PowerElec project is brought to you by the EMPIR - The European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research, which connects European metrology institutes, academia and industry to face new challenges in metrology.
Production of graphene on an industrial scale
Graphene consists of only one layer of carbon atoms and has been considered a "wonder material" since its discovery. Of particular interest is the extreme strength combined with the material's flexibility. It also has a higher electrical conductivity than metals and is also transparent. The unique properties of the thinnest material in the world could enable a wide range of applications, but very few products are currently on the market. Some improvements could, for example, lead to a significantly increased sensitivity of sensors. Transistors, the heart of communications engineering or computer systems, could also be realized with particularly high clock frequencies. So far, however, these have only been laboratory demonstrations, not processes suitable for production. The most urgent problem is the not perfectly defined and reproducible quality of the graphene layers. However, a high and reliably reproducible quality of the electrically functional materials is an indispensable prerequisite for implementation on an industrial scale.
In principle, vapor phase deposition provides a scalable process for the production of large-area graphene layers. In the GIMMIK project, the production of graphene layers is to be evaluated under industrial conditions for the first time. The weak points in the corresponding processing will be identified and ways of eliminating the sources of error will be developed. Furthermore, the transfer of the properties of graphene to electrical components by integration into a material environment will be tested. This aspect will be investigated with focus on the evaluation of graphene quality, but also with regard to the improvement of component properties. In parallel, methods for the large-area, contact-free characterization of graphene will be developed, which do not yet exist at present. The aim of the project is the development of methodologies to ensure a consistently high graphene quality as a basis for production suitability for deposition and integration processes.
The GIMMIK research project aims to expand graphene technology for electronic components and to bring it up to a production-relevant level. If successful, the project will lead to an international breakthrough in the industrial application of graphene, which will strengthen the participating companies and Germany internationally as a scientific and business location due to its high exploitation potential.
Participants: AIXTRON SE, Germany (Herzogenrath) / Infineon Technologies AG, Germany (Neubiberg) / IHP GmbH - Leibniz-Institut für innovative Mikroelektronik, Germany (Frankfurt, Oder) / Protemics GmbH, Germany (Aachen) / LayTec AG, Germany (Berlin) / RWTH Aachen, Germany (Aachen)
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
The demands on electric vehicles are increasing nowadays. As an essential component, high-performance batteries in great demand, which require specific technical characteristics and precise manufacturing. The characteristics of pantographs determine to a large extent the performance of the power battery. Conventional metal foils can only withstand weak bonding of the active material and are very susceptible to sulry/electrolyte. To solve this technical problem, we have performed a condensation deposition of carbon nanotube (CNT) forest by CVD, which can be scaled from roll to roll using our unique technology. The CNT deposition layer can protect both acid sulry and organic electrolytes from direct contact with metal foil. In addition, it can also provide a better mechanical bond between CNT and electrode-active materials and thus offer better electrochemical performance for power batteries. In this project we want to combine AIXTRON's advantages in CVD and CNT deposition technology with the manufacturing and market advantages of the other project partners.
The aim of the project is to innovate a new product (nano-carbon coated current collectors) for high performance lithium ion batteries (LIBs) for electric vehicles (EVs). This product is a necessary accessory for high-end battery manufacturers and thus represents a unique and profitable market opportunity for Weimu with relatively low sales effort. To achieve a successful R&D output, the main goals and activities are listed below:
Objectives:
1. to develop manufacturing equipment and techniques for specific industrial requirements
2. convincing samples with better performance than current LIBs
3. demonstration of scalability for manufacturing and production.
Activities:
1. production of nanocarbon coated samples based on requirements that can be performed in batch mode using the existing AIXTRON research tool
2. review and test coated samples in LIB button cells,
3. expanding the process by developing a roll-to-roll production line,
4. producing conventional LIBs on a scale for further testing, 5. ensuring the final product, costs and properties.
The innovation that this project demonstrates is the implementation of a dry process for coating LIB pantographs with carbon nanotubes (CNT). In current LIBs, current collectors are mainly aluminium oxide foils for the cathode, copper foils for the anode. Bare metal foils are susceptible to oxidation and corrosion. They are also weakly bonded to the adjacent electrode layer. To solve this problem, solutions with a thin carbon layer 2~5μm are currently offered to improve the interface properties. However, this process is a wet process, which requires a long processing time and an additional solvent mixture. Therefore, there are many advantages in replacing such a wet process with a dry process based on our unique nano-carbon deposition method. The steps could be reduced, so that the production time is relatively short compared to current solutions. In addition, the deleted nano-carbon coating would also have better properties, which are more valuable than previous solutions.
The new product aims to improve product properties as well as production efficiency in large-scale production.
New facility will be the incubator of the photonics multinationals of the future.
Photonics is an emerging technology with a potential multitrillion market. Innovative small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are at the forefront of this development, but the R&D costs are prohibitive for them. That’s why 12 partners from northwestern Europe are creating an open access pilot line that will drastically reduce costs and time for the pilot production of new products. This new facility is projected to be the incubator of a thousand new companies and thousands of jobs. The 14 million euro project (OIP4NWE) is supported by the European Regional Development Fund and kicks off this week in Eindhoven.
Photonics is much like electronics, but instead of electrons it uses light (photons) as its workhorse. It uses much less energy, it is faster, and it opens up a wealth of new opportunities. One of the key problems photonics will help tackle is the exploding energy consumption of data centers, as photonic microchips consume much less energy than their electronic predecessors. Another example is a high-precision monitoring system for aircraft wings, bridges or tall buildings.
After two decades of basic photonics research, the first companies producing photonic integrated circuits (PICs) are now taking off – sparsely. One of the main hurdles is the high cost involved in R&D. Not only does the PIC production require expensive high-tech equipment installed in cleanrooms, but currently the production processes still have a high defect rate and are too slow. This was workable for basic research but not for commercial R&D. The technology readiness level, which ranges from 1 to 9, needs to be jacked up from the current 4 to 7.
The new project, led by photonics stronghold Eindhoven University of Technology (in collaboration with its Photonic Integration Technology Center), consists of the realization of an efficient pilot production line for shared use by European SMEs. It should take the defect rate in pilot production down and the throughput time will be shorter. All in all, this should lead to a cost reduction which significantly lowers the threshold for developing new photonic products. This should help establish a thousand integrated photonics firms within ten years after the project.
The front-end process (production of PICs on indium phosphide wafers) will be realized in the existing NanoLab@TU/e cleanroom facility at Eindhoven University. The PICs of different companies will be combined on one wafer to keep costs low. The back-end process is done at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Optics for beam shaping and light coupling) and at Tyndall National Institute in Cork, Ireland (Assembly of fiber-optic connections and electronics in the package). All steps require nanoscale precision to avoid product defects.
The first stage of the project is equipment installation. The second stage focusses on automation of the equipment while a third stage will involve intensive industrial research together with equipment manufacturers to optimize and develop new processes. The line should be fully in operation in 2022. To incentivize the initial uptake by SMEs, a voucher scheme for external SMEs will be set up.
The other parties involved are the companies AIXTRON SE (Germany), Oxford Instruments nanotechnology Tools (United Kingdom), SMART Photonics, VTEC Lasers & Sensors, Technobis Fibre Technologies (all Netherlands) and mBryonics Limited (Ireland) along with research centers Photonics Bretagne (France), Cluster NanoMikroWerkstoffePhotonik.NRW (Germany) and Photon Delta Cooperatie (Netherlands).
The project has a total budget of 13.9 million euros. Of this, the EU is funding 8.3 million, with the remainder coming from the participating parties.
Press Release Protoype AIXTRON epitaxy reactor for open innovation pilot line OIP4NWE
SKYTOP aims empowering the combination of topological state both in real and reciprocal space through the use of Topological Materials (TM) such as Topological Insulators and/or Weyl semimetals and magnetic Skyrmions. The objective is to develop a Skyrmion-TM based platform and realize devices with intertwined electronic-spin and topology for enhanced efficiency and new functionality that could lead to a new paradigm for ultra-dense low power nanoelectronics. The three key objectives behind this vision are: elaborating TM materials for highly efficient spin current generation and magnetization control; developing a functional TM-Skyrmion platform pushing skyrmions one step forward; demonstrating the potential of this platform through the realization of two exemplary unconventional devices: a reconfigurable radio-frequency Skyrmion filter and a Skyrmion-gas based neuromorphic device. SKYTOP will also expected to open a route for exploitation of the emerging Weyl semimetal materials which are currently being investigated at the basic research level.
Participants: National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos” (NCSRD, Greece, Coordinator) / Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS, France) / Thales (France) / Max-Planck-Insituts (MPI, Germany) / Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerch –Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems (CNR-IMM, Italy) / Interuniversity Micro-Electronics Center (Imec, Belgium) / AIXTRON (Germany)
Funded by the European Commission
SKYTOP Project EU: Skyrmion-Topological insulator and Weyl semimetal technology (Video)
Digitalisation and the underlying key technologies are an essential part of the answers to many of the daunting challenges that societies are facing today. The core enablers for this digital transformation are Electronic Components and Systems (ECS) used in applications, information highways and data centres. These information highways and data centres are the “backbone” of the entire digitalisation (5G) and electrical energy is the essential resource powering them. Due to the steadily increasing demand for data traffic, -storage and -processing, higher energy efficiency is inevitable. This is also true for energy conversion in terms of Smart Grids and Smart Mobility.
Whenever Silicon (Si) based semiconductor devices reach their limits, Gallium Nitride (GaN) based power semiconductors are promising candidates enabling much higher switching frequencies together with highest energy conversion efficiencies. Several FP7 and H2020 projects, among them the ECSEL pilot-line project “PowerBase”, have proven these assumptions and serve as the basis for the availability of the first generation of European GaN-devices. Besides proving the ability to achieve more efficient and more compact applications by the use of GaN devices, these projects made clearly evident, that the challenges of the GaN technologies have been heavily underestimated. This clearly results in the necessity to further investigate GaN and focus the research activities on size reduction, cost effectiveness and reliability while dealing with severe challenges:
Higher electric fields (Drift phenomena impacting lifetime),
Higher current densities (Electro-migration impacting lifetime),
Higher power densities (Thermal issues limiting the compactness potential).
These challenges are forming a “red brick wall” for the next GaN on Si technology generations that hampers shrinking of GaN devices which is necessary to improve their affordability and thus increase the range of potential applications.
The RIA project proposal UltimateGaN will overcome the red brick wall and focus on the next generation GaN technology particularly addressing six major objectives along and across the entire vertical value chain of power and radio frequency (RF) electronics:
Research on vertical power GaN processes and devices pushing performance beyond current state-of-the-art,
Research on lateral GaN technologies and devices to achieve best in class power density and efficiency while optimizing cost vs. performance,
Bringing GaN on Silicon RF performance close to GaN on Silicon Carbide thus enabling an affordable 5G rollout,
Breaking the packaging limits – size, electrical and thermal constraints - for high performance GaN power products,
Close the reliability and defect density gap for most innovative GaN devices,
Demonstrate European leadership in high performance power electronics and RF application domains.
The first three objectives are GaN technology related meant to explore the limits by alternative device and process concepts. The fourth objective will address the fact that the outstanding semiconductor performance of GaN can only be harvested when assembly/packaging, interconnections and enhanced thermal management are optimized in a holistic approach. The packages, fully utilizing the unique performance of power GaN devices, are not ready today and therefore require further investigation.
Crystal defect formation, especially at the GaN on Si-interface, is one of the major obstacles toward yield and reliability levels of competing Si based technologies. Therefore, another main objective addressed by UltimateGaN is to prevent these defects in the next generation GaN on Si devices.
The research results coming from the technology and packaging objectives will be used and demonstrated in the course of the last objective dealing with demanding fields of applications for these high performance devices. Amongst many others these application areas are:
Extremely efficient server power supply enabling lower energy consumption in data centres (5G: digitalisation backbone),
Benchmark Photovoltaic inverters in terms of efficiency and size to foster the use of renewable energies (Smart Grids: energy backbone),
Affordable 5G-Amplifiers up to mm-wave enabling a faster 5G rollout (5G: digitalisation backbone),
GaN enabled ultra-fast switching LIDAR application to enable autonomous driving (Smart Mobility),
Highest efficiency μ-Grid-converters and On-Board Chargers (Smart Grids; Smart Mobility).
The project UltimateGaN will enable highest efficiencies in the specific fields of the chosen applications and will lead to a significant reduction of the CO2 footprint of digitalisation, smart grids and smart mobility. To strengthen Europe’s role in the future of GaN business, significant effort must be spent to achieve affordable next generation GaN on Si transistors. As US and Asian companies are also heavily investing in this direction, it is of highest importance for Europe to speed up progress towards the next technology generations.
Participants: Austria - Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik AG, Infineon Technologies Austria
AG, Fronius International GmbH, CTR Carinthian Tech Research AG, Graz University of Technology |
Belgium - IMEC | Germany - AIXTRON SE, Infineon Technologies AG, Siltronic AG, Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH, Fraunhofer Society for the Promotion of Applied Research e.V., Chemnitz University of Technology, NaMLab GmbH | Italy - Università degli studi di Padova, Infineon Technologies Italia, Universita di Milano Bicocca | Norway - Eltek AS | Slovakia - Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Nano Design SRO | Switzerland - Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL, Attolight SA | Spain - IKERLAN, For Optimal Renewable Energy, LEAR | Sweden - RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB, SweGaN AB
Funded by the European Union’s Programme ECSEL JU (Electronic Component Systems for European Leadership Joint Undertaking) and co-funded by FFG (The Austrian Research Promotion Agency).
Video UltimateGaN Project
The QUANTIMONY consortium is a European Innovative Training Network (ITN) with a core focus on the field of semiconductor science and technology, covering all scientific and engineering aspects from modelling through to material growth and characterization, device fabrication and analysis, and industrial exploitation.
14 PhD positions are available for highly motivated Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) as part of the new H2020, EU-funded, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Joint Training and Research Programme “Quantum Semiconductor Technologies Exploiting Antimony”.
We are looking for 14 young talented ESRs to work towards their PhD in one of these countries: Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain and UK starting on April/June 2021.
The QUANTIMONY project is funded by the European Commission (label 956548).
Further Information:
QUANTIMONY - Website
TRANSFORM is a research and development project funded by the EU and national funding authorities. The aim of this project is to build a complete and competitive European supply chain for power electronics based on SiC semiconductor technology from substrates to energy converters such as transistors and modules. It is intended to serve as a supply source for silicon carbide components and systems in Europe.
Such a supply chain also makes an important contribution to the holistic optimization of power electronic systems, which are necessary for a clean and sustainable European economy. Transform is expected to help Europe become a leader in SiC technology – including equipment and application not only on the current 150 mm wafers, but also on the next-generation wafers with a size of 200 mm. For this purpose, the next-generation silicon carbide technology is to be developed.
SiC technology primarily offers energy savings in applications such as renewable energies, industry and electromobility. Silicon carbide-based power electronics use electrical energy much more efficiently than current silicon-based semiconductors: Depending on the application, energy savings up to 30% are expected.
The main European players (34 partners from seven EU countries) are working together in the TRANSFORM technology project to cover the entire value chain from materials, semiconductor technologies, equipment, design and components to systems and to develop the new processes – from the laboratory demonstration to the pilot line – to market maturity.
The project also includes the development of central components such as production-proven CVD (Chemical Vapour Deposition) systems with high yields. The participating partners also develop and optimize processes and device design based on a new substrate process, including the adaptation of planarMOS and the development of the new TrenchMOS technology. A new global substrate standard “Smart Cut” is to be established for SiC substrates. Smart Cut technology enables high scalability, superior performance and reliability.
As a leading supplier in the field of CVD system technology for the production of SiC layers for power electronics, AIXTRON primarily takes on the following tasks in the joint project:
Improvement of CVD production technology for silicon carbide (SiC)
Development of a technology for the simultaneous CVD coating of several 200 mm SiC substrates
CVD system technology for Smart Cut SiC substrates
Deepening the understanding of the limiting and cost-driving effects of SiC/CVD technology, the correlation of device properties with epitaxy and the understanding and control of layer properties and their distribution over the entire wafer surface
The TRANSFORM project is funded by the European Commission (license plate 101007237) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (license plate 16MEE0131).
This project is co-funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Germany.
Further Information:
TRANSFORM - Website
Corporate Research & Development
Prof. Dr. Michael Heuken
Vice President Advanced Technologies
Alan Tai
Taiwan/Singapore
Christof Sommerhalter
USA
Christian Geng
Europe
Hisatoshi Hagiwara
Japan
Nam Kyu Lee
South Korea
Wei (William) Song
China
AIXTRON SE (Headquarters)
AIXTRON 24/7 Technical Support Line
AIXTRON Europe
AIXTRON Ltd (UK)
AIXTRON K.K. (Japan)
AIXTRON Korea Co., Ltd.
AIXTRON Taiwan Co., Ltd. (Main Office)
AIXTRON Inc. (USA)
Christoph Pütz
Senior Manager ESG & Sustainability
Christian Ludwig
Vice President Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Ralf Penner
Senior IR Manager
Christian Ludwig
Vice President Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Prof. Dr. Michael Heuken
Vice President Advanced Technologies